


the student becomes the teacher

by wolfofwinterfell



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Occlumency, curious to see if people like this relationship, little twist at the end, rather tame bellatrix but oh well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:21:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25395304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfofwinterfell/pseuds/wolfofwinterfell
Summary: Bellatrix learned Occlumency herself several years ago. She's decided to teach Draco now.
Kudos: 3





	the student becomes the teacher

“He’ll be _fine_ , Cissy!” Bellatrix leaned back in her chair, looking at her fingernails, trying to decide which one to bite next. The last time her sister had sat her down for a talk, they’d been at it for several hours and she needed something to do while she wasn’t listening. 

“No! Bella, he doesn’t _need_ to learn it! It will just tax him more…” Narcissa sighed. “I won’t allow it, not when he’s already spreading himself thin.” 

“You’ll change your mind when he’s dead on the floor by Snape’s own hand.” She ignored the sound of protest. “Didn’t you find his answers to everything too...convenient?”

“On the contrary, I found them entirely convincing. All he said made perfect sense. Do you honestly believe him capable of trickery on such a scale? The Dark Lord would not fall for it…”

Bellatrix paused before she answered, the flickering of the fire casting shadows that made her face look all the more hardened. “No,” she said finally, her tone convincing. But she was thinking of the man who had taught her, the way he could still break through her own walls, and she wasn’t so sure their leader was as infallible as she wanted to believe. “Perhaps the Dark Lord is just testing us, instead. But Draco should still learn it; it can only help him.”

“He’s not even started sixth year; he’s too young.” Her resolve was weakening; Bellatrix could see it. 

“He’s been given a task any of the Death Eaters would beg for, Cissy. Grown men have balked at less. This will be _easy_ for him.” 

“What, pray tell, will be easy?” Draco stepped through the door frame. He was doing a good job pretending to be brave, but the enormity of the task he’d been given was starting to sink in. He looked from his aunt to his mother and back to Bellatrix again. 

“Occlumency,” Bellatrix spat out before she could be stopped. 

“Why?” He was genuinely curious but not surprised. “I’ve nothing to hide from the Dark Lord.”

“Oh, my dear nephew. Use Occlumency against _him_?” Bellatrix scoffed. “His skill is unmatched.” 

“Who, then?” 

“Who do you think?” She laughed. “Snape.”

“Still don’t trust him, Aunt Bella?” Draco’s only reaction was to raise a brow as he leaned against a bookcase, folding his arms in front of him. “Pity. Father always did.” 

“And look where your father is now!” She threw her head back, practically cackling, and was surprised to feel the tip of a wand on her throat. 

“Don’t speak about him like that,” Draco ground out, pressing the wand a little harder into her neck before letting up and stepping away again. 

“Oh, my dear Draco… You’ll need to work on those emotions to be a proper Occlumens.” Bellatrix grinned, casting a look toward her sister. Narcissa’s jaw was clenched, but, to her credit, she’d seemingly decided to stay out of it now. 

“I still don’t see the point in it.” Draco leaned against the bookcase again, his wand still out, and kept his eyes on his aunt. “I’ve no reason to distrust him. But I think you do...and your real problem is that the Dark Lord tells him more than he tells you.”

“How dare you!” She hissed. The boy smirked, knowing what he’d said was true, and Bellatrix felt her hand go for her wand. “You, whose father cannot even carry out a simple task... dare say such a thing to _me_? The Dark Lord’s most loyal follower?” 

“Are you sure?”

“Fine. But don’t come to me when the bastard tries to steal the glory meant for you and your family.” Bellatrix’s chest heaved as she drew in a deep breath, her eyes flashing, and she spun on her heel to leave the room. 

* * *

“Term starts tomorrow. Can’t I just practice Legilimency a bit?” Draco looked out the window as they talked, arms folded across his chest. It was raining again, the boy’s favorite weather of late since it meant he could usually convince her to teach him something. When the weather was nice, she was usually outside, practicing things herself, things she was reluctant to share. 

“I suppose.” Bellatrix sat up from the couch. She wouldn’t admit it, not yet, but she was glad to see him show some initiative. The boy had potential, she had to admit. Working with him over the summer had made her proud of him. If she couldn’t be chosen for such a big task herself, at least someone in her family was….and he was unlikely to make a total embarrassment of himself. “You’ll know the spell, of course. When you’re ready.”

He nodded and a few minutes later turned to face her. 

“ _Legilimens!_ ” Draco said without any preamble, his face full of determination. 

Bellatrix looked back at him, her face almost bored, knowing he would get nowhere. 

“Try again,” she said after he lowered his wand. 

They repeated the exchange several times before Bellatrix muttered the spell herself. She knew it wasn’t fair; Draco was hardly at a level where he could be expected to guard his mind while trying to break into hers, but she was wondering if he was distracted. 

And he was. 

There were thoughts she’d never seen before, of Draco as a toddler listening to his parents read him a story, opening gifts on Christmas morning, sitting on his father’s lap during one of the infamous Malfoy parties. They shifted to Narcissa fussing over him on his first day of Hogwarts, the first package he’d received from her after getting to school, his friends sneaking firewhiskey into the Slytherin common room, flying during a quidditch game with Lucius sitting in the stands, Snape beside him… _Snape._

And then, all of a sudden, snippets of thoughts were running through Bellatrix’s mind.

Sisters laughing together, wreaking havoc. Sisters fighting over tiny things, then bigger ones that really only mattered after they’d gotten old enough to understand them. Genealogy, dark magic, bonds of marriage and bonds of blood. Learning Occlumency and Legilimency herself. Then sheets and skin, nails and teeth, pain and pleasure in equal measure. 

Suddenly, the presence in her mind was gone.

She blinked, surprised that Draco had managed to break through in the first place but knowing it was her own fault for being distracted, and she wondered how much he’d recognized. Snape’s mouth on hers, on her neck, moving further down as his hand slipped over her thigh. Had he seen his godfather’s face? 

“That’s why you’ve been teaching me, isn’t it?” Draco’s voice was quiet. “To get back at him.” 

“No, nephew.” But that was a lie, a partial one at least. “Knowledge shouldn’t be wasted, and you need all the help you can get.”


End file.
